Designing EPR to foster the EU’s competitiveness and strategic autonomy

Europe’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes are failing to deliver on circularity and strategic autonomy.

Our latest study, “Designing EPR to Foster the EU’s Competitiveness and Strategic Autonomy”, analyses 30 years of EPR implementation and proposes a comprehensive framework to transform EPR systems into catalysts for the circular economy transition.

The study lays out a two-pillar plan to unlock EPR’s full potential. The first pillar focuses on system optimisation, calling for harmonised rules across Member States, greater transparency, the creation of a central registry of producers, and the establishment of a European EPR oversight body to reduce administrative burden, tackle free-riding, and support a functioning single market for producer responsibility. The second pillar positions EPR as a circular economy enabler, arguing that EPR fees must go beyond cost-coverage to actively finance waste prevention, reuse, and repair, through dedicated repair funds, reuse infrastructure, and supportive policy measures.

Available in English.